1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to seating tiers. The tiers of the invention greatly facilitate viewing by spectators, provide increased seating capacity, reduce required heights and horizontal dimensions and have many other advantages. They are especially designed for use in a stadium usable as a football stadium but can adapted for use in a variety of applications including theaters and concert halls and stadiums used for basketball, soccer, hockey and track and field activities
2. Description of the Prior Art
The seating tiers of stadiums and theaters and of halls used for concerts and other purposes are generally sloped back away from the field, stage or other region to be viewed. Higher tiers have increased slopes. In certain theaters, seats have been provided in boxes which are supported one above another.
This invention was evolved with the specific object of designing a new football stadium for the Chicago Bears team but has resulted in seating tier constructions which are usable in a variety of applications.
An important aspect of the invention is in a recognition of the problems involved. A preferred location for a new stadium for the Chicago Bears is Soldier Field because of its location along the Chicago lakefront and because the Bears have been playing there for years. Soldier Field was built in the 1920""s to honor the soldiers of World War I and has distinctive colonnades and other architectural features which are well known and which have landmark status. A serious problem is that conventional designs are not suitable. Higher tiers would not only project upwardly to a level substantially higher than the colonnades but in doing so would project away from the playing field to hover over the colonnades and create an appearance which, to many people, would be an eyesore. Any new stadium built in the present location of Soldier Field and which projects upwardly beyond the colonnades would be objectionable to a great many people. It has also been. recognized that the unsuitability of conventional designs arises because tiers thereof must slope outwardly from the playing field with slopes that increase with height.
In an effort to solve these problems, consideration was given to providing a reverse slope in a highest tier, having it slope upwardly and toward the field from an outer end away from the field. In analyzing this possibility it was found that it could be usable with the proper design. In particular, it was found that with proper openings for viewing of the field, rows of seats for spectators could be supported at progressively higher levels and with each row other than the lowermost row being closer to the field than the next lower row. It was also discovered that spectators would thereby be provided with superior viewing points, especially for viewing actions in a football game. The reverse slope design can also be used to increase seating capacity while also reducing overall height and horizontal dimensions. Also, with specific regard to the Soldier Field problem, the proposed reversely sloped tiers will be at their highest at points toward the playing field and away from the colonnades, avoiding the visual hovering problems involved in using conventional designs.
Important features of the invention relate to the provision of walkways along the fronts of rows of seats, the provision of windows adjacent the walkways, the provision of stairways and designs of components to obtain high strength and safety while facilitating construction at low costs.
Cross-beams are provided for supporting rows of seats and are supported between stairway units that include lower step-defining portions, upper portions and connecting web portions. Windows are supported between adjacent cross-beams. Handrails are supported from the web portions of the stairway units and from the cross-beams.
Two stadium embodiments are disclosed. One is open. The other has an enclosing roof structure supported between the reversely sloped tiers of the invention.
In both stadium embodiments, a protective support structure may be provided that underlies the playing field and supports for all tiers and that is impervious to flow of water therethrough, being effective to transmit to the tier supports and hydraulic forces that may be applied to the underside of the protective structure. This allows the playing field to be located below water table.
The invention contemplates other objects, features and advantages which will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.